KUWAIT CITY, 30 March 2005 — Kuwait’s Mobile Telecommunications Co. (MTC) said yesterday it has bought 85 percent of Dutch Celtel International, which operates in 13 African countries, for $2.84 billion.
MTC, the second-largest company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, said the deal includes a pledge to buy the remaining 15 percent of Celtel for $520 million within the next two years.
It is the largest deal by a Kuwaiti mobile company in a foreign market and will add 5.2 million new mobile phone users to MTC’s subscriber base of 3.4 million in five countries in the Middle East. Celtel will continue to operate as a separate legal entity within the MTC group and its management will be retained, the statement said.
Part of the financing of the deal has been arranged by a group of four banks, and the rest will be paid in cash, said the statement without providing details.
Geneva-based UBS Investment Bank acted as the exclusive financial adviser to MTC in the deal.
“We are delighted with the acquisition of Celtel, an established telecommunications organization with an internationally renowned pedigree in emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa,” MTC Vice Chairman and Managing Director Saad Al-Barrak said in the statement.
